Found, sketch of da Vinci as we’ve never seen him before
FOR a man who was such a giant figure in Renaissance art, it was always a little surprising that there was only one portrait of Leonardo that survives from his lifetime.
Until now, that is. A sketch of a bearded man, owned by the Royal Collection, has been ‘identified’ as the artist and inventor.
The picture, in which the subject ‘appears a little melancholy and world-weary’, is believed to have been drawn shortly before his death in 1519. It will be displayed for the first time in an exhibition in the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace.
Martin Clayton, of the Royal Collection Trust, identified the face as he prepared drawings, stored in Windsor Castle, for the exhibition.
The other contemporary portrait of da Vinci was by his pupil, Francesco Melzi, and was produced at around the same time, when da Vinci was about 65.
Mr Clayton said that, comparing the features on both ‘it’s hard to avoid the conclusion’ that the second picture was also Leonardo – probably made by one his assistants when he was living in France and working for the king.
The Melzi portrait depicts da Vinci as ‘ he wanted to be seen, this very august figure’, Mr Clayton said.
In the sketch ‘ he looks more thoughtful, more wistful’.
The Palace exhibition, which opens on May 24, will mark the 500th anniversary of da Vinci’s death and is the largest display of his work in more than 65 years.